recently i've been having trouble sleeping and i suspect i might be suffering from insomnia, but i can't be bothered to go to a doctor to see what's wrong :p usually i rarely have problems sleeping as i used to train to sleep when i was younger- my mum FORCED me to take naps in the afternoon, so i wouldn't play so much or watch too much tv during the weekends! and on school days my bedtime was 6pm! so yeah sleeping was a huge part of my life when i was younger, but nowadays when i decide to sleep in or take naps, i get scolded from (who else but) my mum :p so there's something very wrong here haha

usually i have trouble sleeping when- there's something happening the next day and i'm really excited about it (like back in school, when the next day was mufti day or a party day, i could never sleep!) or i've been taking too much caffeine (i tried having 2 large cups of ice blended mocha at 10pm before..i ended up sleeping 7am..haha fuck!) or i've had sleep earlier in the afternoon, and so i wasn't that tired yet

but the past couple of weeks, i haven't touched any coffee or had anything really exciting going on, or taken any naps in the afternoon, but i have trouble sleeping! i go to bed and usually lie there (smsing people or playing snake 2 or space impact when i'm out of credit) for an hour or more before i finally fall asleep

so i have come up with a list of methods to help people who have trouble sleeping to fall asleep..i don't garuantee anything, and try them at your own risk :p hahaha

1) counting sheep- this is seriously stupid :p and i can testify to that! i get to 100 so easily and i'm getting closer to sleep than i am to getting a girlfriend! haha maybe it worked for little kids who can't count that high, so they'll fall asleep trying to figure out the next number..i find counting sheep to be very boring as well, but it never puts me to sleep..i'd like to think you get more alert since you're using your brain to count

2) listening to music- when i was younger i used to fall asleep by listening to loud music (limp bizkit anyone?) every night and it would work like a charm! but now loud music doesn't seem to have the same effect on me anymore..i've tried soft music (stuff like Yani and Straylight Run- strings and piano etc) and it's worked a couple of times, but not everytime..sometimes even soft music can get annoying for some reason and you want it off! and if i'm put on my favourite cds, i sing along to every song till the end of the cd, and i'm still awake..so to me, music isn't very effective

3) reading- finally, a method which works! you read and read until you get so tired you fall asleep- this has always worked for me, but there's a problem- i have to be lying on my bed and reading..if i'm sitting up and reading i don't get tired, but more alert instead, and reading while lying down is supposed to fuck up your eyes, which is true haha i remember hiding under blankets with a torchlight to read story books when i was younger..i started wearing glasses in primary 5..haha so i rarely use this method, unless i have a really good book that has got me hooked on it

4) and now the taboo method which nobody will talk about- wanking! - haha i remember this used to work- i'd get so tired after wanking i'd fall asleep almost right after, but it doesn't work anymore! i guess my body built up resistance or something hahahaha apparently sex makes you real tired though, but i can't attest to that :P

5) sleeping pills- i haven't tried them before..don't have any at home..but i'm afraid if i took them i'd OD hahahaha how do they work anyway? do they make your body produce 'tiring hormones'? are there such hormones? hahahaha

6) just lie there till you fall asleep :p apparently- the more you want to fall asleep, the harder it is to go to sleep, but the more you want to stay awake, the higher the chance you'll fall asleep trying..so i always thought to myself 'stay awake, so my body will make me fall asleep!' but then i realised- wouldn't my body know i was trying to fool my own body into falling asleep and keep me up instead? hahaha

well those are all the methods which i know about and have used (except the pills) and hopefully they'll be helpful to anyone with sleeping problems out there
if you have any tips of your own, feel free to share them!